


Take Notice

by Lil_Redhead



Series: Shirbert Oneshot + Drabble Collection [11]
Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Bash gives Gilbert some love-life advice, F/M, Gilbert blushes, spoilers for 3x01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 13:16:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20742815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lil_Redhead/pseuds/Lil_Redhead
Summary: In a moment of weakness, Gilbert writes take-notice notes to Anne.





	Take Notice

**Author's Note:**

> SEASON 3 IS HERE EVERYONE, AND I'M LIVING!!! This fic is loosely based off some of the events from tonight's episode, 3x01, so if you haven't watched it yet, please do first!

Gilbert Blythe did _not _fancy himself a weak man. He was simply having a weak moment, as many conflicted fellows are wont to do. No one could fault him that - especially not after suffering a minor, but substantial bout of heartbreak and disappointment before nine in the morning. Anne Shirley certainly did not waste time. 

“Eh, Gilbert, what is that you’re working on?” said Bash, appearing out of nowhere to peer in curiosity over Gilbert’s shoulder. Covering the contents before him with a not-so-casual elbow, Gilbert shrugged. When all of the tiny little papers were still exposed, he collected together, shuffled them into straightness, and tucked them underneath his biology textbook. 

“Just some homework.” 

“Oh alright.” Gilbert could’ve sighed in relief. The last thing he needed was Bash prying into affairs that truly did not concern him. “It’s just that you usually don’t stare at your biology workbooks with such affection.” 

Gilbert grimaced. He spun around and leaned his arms across the top of the chair. 

“I thought you’d gone to bed already.” 

“I promised Mary I’d stay up and feed the baby so she could sleep. Why aren’t _you _in bed, yet?” 

“Like I said, homework.” 

Gilbert would not be moved. He snapped his lips together and fixed his face with such superficial casualness that Bash was not convinced for even half a second. He glanced down at the book on the table, unprotected with Gilbert facing away. Before the curly-haired lad could swivel around, Bash snatched the papers from underneath the book and brought them up to his eyes. 

Gilbert let out a cry of protestation, reaching out to snatch the contents back, but Bash had already shuffled away. 

“Wait….what in the world….” Bash mumbled as he flipped through the notes. “Gilbert John Blythe, I never thought I’d see the day.” 

“Can I have those back, please?” Gilbert snapped. Bash was so stunned by the unexpected contents of the notes that Gilbert was able to grab back the embarrassing confessions of his heart and stuff them into his pocket. 

“And hear you told me you don’t write love letters!” 

“They’re _not _love letters!” Gilbert stated angrily. “They’re take-notice posts.” 

“Sorry brother, but I don’t see the difference. Lemme see one of those again.” Bash made for Gilbert’s pocket, only to be swatted away. “What was it again, _Anne has an incomparable spirit?” _

“Don’t you have a baby to feed!?” Gilbert pleaded, hands covering his pocket with alert protectiveness. Realizing that he would not be executing another successful sneak attack, Bash fixed his jaw and nodded.

“Alright, Blythe. Sit.” 

“What?” 

“I said sit, boy!” 

Gilbert did as he was told, settling back into the chair with a curled lip of disdain. Bash sat at the other end of the table, eyeing Gilbert much like a judge eyes a defendant. The older man folded his hands underneath his chin and cocked an eyebrow. 

“Now read them,” he instructed. Gilbert opened his mouth to protest, but Bash brushed him aside with a wave of his hand. “How else will you decide which one to actually post?” 

For a moment, Gilbert thought he’d rather die than read aloud any of the things he’d written about Anne to Bash. But then, Bash had a way of getting to him that sometimes made living together endlessly frustrating. Out of all these notices that he’d written, he trusted only Bash to tell him which one was any good. Clearing his throat, he pulled out the three he had come up with. 

“Anne is an incomparable spirit,” he read quietly.

“I already know that one,” Bash whined.

“Do you want me to read them or not?” snapped Gilbert. Bash’s lips fell shut in deference. 

“Anne Shirley-Cuthbert’s hair is lovelier…” Gilbert trailed off. “Actually, I don’t think I’ll be posting any of these. Good night.” 

“_Gilbert_!” 

“Fine! Anne Shirley-Cuthbert’s hair is lovelier than any Avonlea sunset.” 

“That one is nice.” 

Gilbert set aside the note and peered down at the next one. He could barely feel anything other than the heat in his cheeks and the amusement radiating off of Bash. He was a long time in finally reciting the last one - it _really _didn’t sound like him at all. What good was a take-notice note that was completely out of character. Still, Bash was waiting with eager ears.

“Whatever Anne’s soul is made of, hers and mine are the same,” he read finally.

“Oh, now I know for sure you didn’t come up with that one yourself,” mused Bash.

“I didn’t. It’s a quote from one of the books she likes. She loaned it to me last summer. I thought it might be a good way of letting her know that it was me…” 

Bash leaned back in his chair, eyeing the crumpled papers laying flat on the table with deep contemplation. 

“Which one do you think I should post?” Gilbert asked, anxious at the silence. Outside the cracked window, he heard the Avonlea crickets singing their chorus, but all he wanted was some evidence that he hadn’t gone and lost all of his sense. 

“Honestly, Gil, I don’t think you should post any of them.” 

That tiny ache that had bloomed in his chest when Anne suggested he post about _Ruby_ returned with a new vengeance. Of course posting any of these would make him look like an utter fool.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Bash hurried. “I just think that posting words this genuine on a board for all the schoolkids to see is a little bit cowardly.” 

Gilbert’s brows knit together.

“Cowardly?” 

“Well don’t you suppose this is the sort of stuff that you should say to her face.”

A jolt of unexpected fear ran through Gilbert. How would he even go about telling any of this to Anne, especially after she made it very clear that she was supporting her _friend’s _affection for him? Would he just happen to walk her home, close enough to her that their hands would graze easily? Would he follow her up her porch steps, clear his throat before she could say goodbye, and confess everything in one hurried breath? No, he couldn’t do that. 

“I don’t think I was ever going to post these anyway,” Gilbert admitted bitterly. 

“Why’s that?” 

“Because there’s a certain time for these sorts of things, you know? Not all of us can propose after knowing her for a week. Anne is…she deserves…”

Bash cocked a brow.

“The time just isn’t right, okay?” Gilbert snapped. He seized all of his dreadful notes and tossed them into the fire underneath the hearth. A choked sound of protest left Bash’s lips, but he swallowed it when Gilbert turned back around with a tired, resigned expression. “Just thought it was worth…thinking about.” 

“All you do is think about it.” 

Bash wasn’t _all _right, but there was some truth in the words he said. Gilbert liked to tell himself that he was anxious to become a doctor, driven toward success in his studies, and occasionally thought about Anne when he had a free moment. But the truth was, Anne was in the corner of all of his thoughts, smiling with that kind smile and declaring utterances of affection to the wind, the trees, the rain. He thought about the way she smelled like wild violets and the curl of her hair when it tumbled over her shoulders like molten copper. She stirred something in him he wasn’t sure he wanted to touch just yet. 

He sighed. Maybe it was for the best that he didn’t post anything, after all. 

“I’ll feed the baby tonight,” Gilbert said quietly, noticing the wax of his candle dripping onto the table. “You should go to bed.” 

Bash let out of a sigh of his own, but pushed himself up from the table with a tired nod. He left the room with a quiet, “Night, Gil.” 

Gilbert intended to follow close behind, but he caught himself glancing back at the scrap paper on the table. He reached down, taking the cool pencil in his fingers and scratched out the message, “One day Gilbert will be brave enough to tell Anne the truth.” 

Whatever the truth meant. 

Then he crumpled the paper up in his hands, tossed it into the heat of the hearth, and watched the promise seal into smoke and ash.

**Author's Note:**

> Come scream with me! ~ @royalcordelia


End file.
